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Tipping, tacking, towering, stalling,

discover the joys of

- ) s ~ - -- - -' .. .. BY KATHRYN TIDYMAN

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN ZIMMERMAN

You should have seen it! I sent that 40-mold 119 screaming up at a really positive attack angle. I could see the sun glint off the hot stamp on the crown just as it stalled on the table. It caught a good tower and inflected across the wind line. It planed out, inflected again, and tacked across the wind. There were still plenty of Zs when it got back to me, so I did some delay combina­tions, a turnover, and closed it with a triple fake flamingo. Know what I mean? -Frisbee fanatic describing a boomerang throw and trick catch.

FOR FELLOW FRISBEE freaks, the above description needs no transla­tion. In only two decades, the simple act of throwing a plastic disc into the air has become a sport with its own strange language, its own cham­pions, and millions of beach and back­yard players.

Historians claim that Frisbee really began 100 years ago when East Coast college students ate pies baked by the Frisbie Pie Company, and tossed the empty tins around the campus. "Fris­bie!" they would yell, to signal the catcher.

But 30 years ago a California in­ventor made the first plastic flying

disc. Fred Morrison sold his invention at county fairs. He and a friend would pretend to string an invisible wire between themselves, and then throw the disc back and forth. The disc seemed to be traveling along the in­visible string. When people asked how much it cost, Morrison would say, "Why the saucer is free. But the wire costs a penny a foot!"

In 1951, Wham-0, the toy manu­facturer that brought out the Hula­Hoop, bought the invention and im­proved the design until the Frisbee was born. Since then, Wham-0 has sold over 100 million brightly col­ored flying saucers in 16 different ~

"In Frisbee, the only limit is your imagination."

BOYS' LIFE .. MARCH 1978

models. More than 70 other brands of flying discs have been marketed, but Wham-0 continues to be the major supplier of plastic discs and the major supporter of the sport.

Frisbees are easy to throw. In fact, almost any way you can hold a Fris­bee, you can throw it. And, if you have mastered the four basic grips­the common grip (with variations such as the power grip and the fan grip), the thumber, the two-finger or sidearm, and the hooked thumber-you will be able to make more than 30 different types of throws. Besides the basic backhand and underhand re­leases, the list includes behind-the­back, behind-the-head, the wrist fling, finger flip, the spider, the hamburger, the paradox, and the flutterball of hyzer.

Catching the Frisbee can be just as creative. With two simple grips­thumbs-up or thumbs-down -a play­er can snatch the Frisbee from the air in an almost endless variety of grabs: between-the-legs, behind-the-back, be­hind-the-head. Tipping the Frisbee­interrupting its flight with a finger, hand, or foot (much like soccer play­ers bounce the ball off elbows, knees, or heads)-gives the catcher time to position himself for even more dra­matic catches, like standing on his head.

And between throw and catch, there is the Frisbee flight. The Frisbee, its promoters say, has only one pur­pose: to fly. And it will fly, float, waft, and wane in lines and arcs be­yond the aerodynamic abilities of a ball. This may be one reason why plas­tic discs are now outselling basketballs, footballs, and baseballs combined.

But there are many reasons for Fris­bee's popularity. Nearly every­one can play Frisbee, just about anywhere. Injuries are rare. And, i•lastic flying discs are inex­pensive. Few models cost more than $3 . And while

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some games and competitions have been developed, there is still only one basic rule: Play it your way.

As World · Junior Champion Dale Hartzell, 15, says, "It's not like base­ball, where you have to set up teams. You and a friend can start playing. Or you can just play by yourself. For the Junior Championship, I practiced my accuracy shots for hours against the barn. And you can take it anywhere. Lots of people like to play Frisbee." As one flying saucer fanatic used to sign his letters, "Make a friend today. Throw a Frisbee to someone."

But there's more to Frisbee than throwing and catching with a friend. Just about any ball sport can be played with a Frisbee. In Disc Golf, for exam­ple, players toss their Frisbees across 9- or 18-hole fairways . Obstacles and hazards crowd the course. And the rules and courtesies are much the same as in ball golf.

Ultimate Frisbee resembles both foot­ball and basketball. On a 60- by 40-yard field, two seven-man teams at­tempt to pass the Frisbee-backward, forward, sideways-to a player in the 30-yard end zone to score a point. This fast-moving, non-contact game is played in two 24-minute halves.

Guts Frisbee, the other major field game, is a little like Ping Pong for 10 players, no paddles, at 100 miles per hour. Two five-player teams stand 14 meters apart and attempt to throw past each other. The throwing team scores one point if the receiving team doesn't catch the disc. And a bad throw scores a point for the receiving team. The first team to score 21 points-with at least a two-point margin-wins.

The first World Championship was held in 1974 in the Rose Bowl in Pasa­

dena, Calif. Since then, participation in na­

tiona l and world tour-

naments has been growing. In the 1977 World Tournament, Frisbee champions from as far away as Japan, Sweden, and England competed with the U.S. and Canada in eight events: maximum time aloft (MTA); throw, run, and catch (TR&C); distance; accuracy; Disc Golf; freestyle; Guts; and Ultimate.

Players compete throughout the year in regional tournaments earning points to qualify them for the World Cham­pionship Tournament. Along the way, world records are set and broken in the adult, senior, junior, and chil­dren's categories. The men's world ac­curacy record, for example, is 21 out of 28 shots (through a 76-inch hoop from varying distances and angles). But Bruce Tashoff, now 17, of New York, is not far behind. At age 15, he set the junior world record with 17 out of 28 throws.

Scott McGlasson, 13, Monrovia, Calif. , holds two children's world rec­ords: for outdoor distance, 216 feet; and TR&C, 105 feet. At 12, Scott became the youngest person ever to pass the Master's proficiency test given by the International Frisbee Association.

Bobby Stanislaus, 13, another young Master from Monrovia, holds the chil­dren's records for accuracy and MT A. He and Scott are among only seven youngsters in the U.S. who earned their Masters rating before age 16.

But reading about Frisbee and its champions can not compare to the un­ending pleasure even the beginner feels as he discovers all that the disc can do.

As current World Freestyle cham­pion, Jens Velasquez, says, "You would think that after winning two world championships, my brother Erwin and I have done everything that could pos­sibly be done with a Frisbee. But we're nowhere near that . We keep thinking of more t hings to do. In Frisbee, the only limit is your imagination."

For more information on playing or organizing Frisbee in your troop, school, or neighborhood, contact your local Parks and Recreation department, or write to The International Frisbe Association (IF A), Box 664, Alhambra, Calif. 91802. +

i:"

I hirteen-year-old Masters are not far behind the adults in setting world records.

BOYS' LIFE o:to MARCH 1978 33